A model Shay, a sound system, and DCC - except for the real thing, it doesn't get any better than this! At the end of this installation write-up, I have listed several US locations where I have seen operating Shays. If you are not familar with Shays and bought yours because it looks unique, be sure to read the section also at the end on why Shays really are unique.

Is your Bachmann Shay falling apart or acting so?  See note at end of this installation.

NOW! TWO VERSIONS OF THESE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS!

There are two ways that you can do this installation:

1. Full featured with flickering firebox and speed sensitive smoke.

2. Basic version with sound and all lights. No flickering firebox.

When I first did this Shay, I wanted it to be a show piece. So I filled it with features. After several years of having my garden railway on tour, I found no one notices the flickering firebox. Heck, no one notices the headlights! To compound matters, this Shay has very little room inside if you put a quality speaker in the tender. So when I had to put a new decoder in my Shay, I made my life easier and took the flickering firebox effects out. I also removed the voltage regulator board.

So if you don't care about smoke or flickering firebox effects, follow the instructions marked "SIMPLIFIED VERSION" and skip those labeled "FULL FEATURED VERSION." If a section has neither label, then it applies to both.

Note: If you want a feature from the full featured version, feel free to add it. The schematics were intentionally kept similar. So you can easily add anything you like.

Locked rotor stall current: >3.2A @12V PER MOTOR.  4.8A @18V PER MOTOR.

Regulator regulates to 8.25V.  Lamp current=43mA.  Smoke Unit=64 ohms 282mA @18V 250mA @16V

The features in these installation instructions include:

-2 sets of power pick-ups.

-2 powered motors.

-synchronized chuff.

-speed sensitive smoke.

-front, rear, and cab DCC controlled, voltage regulated lights.

-3" or 4" speaker.

-firebox flicker synchronized to brighten when coal is shoveled in.

Use Soundtraxx outputs for headlight and reverse. This maximizes the number of Digitrax outputs left free as the Digitrax headlight outputs have greater reprogrammability than the Soundtraxx headlight outputs.

There are a variety of ways the DSD can be wired and used.  Some of your options involve the F1 and F5 function outputs.  I used one of them both for the flickering firebox effect.  This is really fantastic.  You may want to use one of these lamp circuits for synchronized flickering firebox where the light gets brighter as would be appropriate when the firebox doors are open and the sound effect of coal being shoveled in is generated.  For more on the flickering firebox see the section on Using Minature Lamps.

The coupler clank activates whenever it's control bit changes state.  This often happens when the decoder powers up or is reset, which occurs when the above stall problem takes place.  If you don't care for the coupler clank, you can kill it off.  If none of your function buttons control the coupler clank, it will never occur.

Note!  Throttle Up! directional lighting comes on after throttle is advanced for movement.

How do the motors work together to drive the pistons?

I found out they don't. Close examination of the universal joint forward of the rear truck reveals that it isn't really a universal joint. It contains a slip mechanism so the rear truck doesn't really drive the pistons.

This installation note assumes you have read the section on Sound and the section on Wiring Specific Locomotives.

Before I begin, as I talk about right and left, I will always be referring to the side of the locomotive that the pistons are on; whether the locomotive is upside down or not. This is also the engineer's side.

Be sure you read the Soundtraxx Owner's Manual - especially if this is your first sound module.  The manual contains a lot of good advice.  For the person who has done this kind of thing before, it's still worth reading as I learned a few things, too.  So after you follow the test procedure, take the time to read the owners manual. You can probably hold off reading the Technical Reference Manual until after you have programmed my CVs and you want to make a change.

Digitrax Chief owners: Some Soundtraxx DSD modules will not program on some Chief programming tracks.  Make sure you mention you have a Chief when ordering. You will want to get a module that is release 1.1 which is shipping now.  Tell them what you want your short address to be and they will program it for you.  Otherwise it will be their default 03.  All other CVs can be changed in OPS mode on the mainline - which is where you are most likely to program them anyway.  Newer Soundtraxx modules allow you to program CV 17 and CV 18, the long address CVs, on the main line in OPS mode.  Only CV 1, the short address CV, cannot be programmed in OPS on the main.

Don't forget to switch to OPS when you enter programming mode if you will do it on the main.  This is similar to trying to operate something without plugging it in first.  Who hasn't made that mistake?  Also be aware that you cannot read back CVs in OPS mode.

Test Your Decoders:

It may be several evenings before you get to installing your decoders. Why wait until then to find out any are bad? That would be a real bummer. Test it now. If bad, you can be getting a new one while preparing your locomotive.

Be sure to read these directions before starting or buying anything. You have a few choices to make. As you read along, you will find comments that will help you make the necessary decissions. I have placed things in sections to delineate your choices.

Ironicly, the wide open design of a Shay that made the real thing easy to work on in the woods, helps make the model a challenge. Where do you hide things?

Installing everything will definitely exceed being a one weekend project. Perhaps several unless you dedicate full weekends to the project. If you avoid the 4" speaker, the swinging bell, and go with minimal flickering firebox circuits, it may be possible to do this in one FULL weekend.

As with any rolling sound system, installation is a bit more involved than a simple motor and headlights DCC decoder installation.

This locomotive can be quite a puzzle in getting dissassembled appropriately. You will want to follow these directions closely to avoid wasted time and frustration. I already made all the mistakes, so as long as you follow these directions, this should be a fairly straight forward project.

If you decide to put an option off until later, still read the section on prep work for the option you want to delay. There may be a hole or something that is needed. Doing the prep work up front will make adding the option later easier and faster. The amount of effort required later may so severe that you may say "forget it!" Not putting lamps behind the firebox door now is probably one of those forget it situations.

You will notice that two decoders are used. This is primarily because Throttle Up! doesn't have a high current decoder yet. I believe it is on the drawing board, but it won't be out any time soon. I don't know about you, but I hate to waste things, so I will be using the Soundraxx motor output to operate the smoke generator for speed synchronized smoke!

Besides, I bet you don't really want to add anything like a transistor or relay to operate the smoke generator. Even the Digitrax decoder doesn't put out enough current on it's function outputs to operate it.

Now you can have throttle sensitive smoke if you want it! There are issues concerning the smoke that you have choices over. Those are covered below in the section on hooking up the smoke generator.

A note about consisting: If you don't model smaller gauges, the thought of consisting may scare you off. The introductory paragraphs in the Digitrax manual may do likewise. Ignore the manual! Relax! It REALLY is easy! HO and N scale modellers do it all the time!

Consisting allows multiple locomotives, or in this case decoders, to operate together. It is also called MU'ing or Multiple Units. When one goes, they all go. Here, you get coordinated movement while maintaining control of individual functions. So you can use the Digitrax decoder to turn on the cab light without getting unwanted sounds from the Soundtraxx decoder. And you can use Soundtraxx decoder without affecting the Digitrax decoder. Lastly, consisting will allowed coordinated smoke activity with locomotive speed!

Since I don't consider myself coordinated, this didn't appeal to me. After all, you are probably using your Shay to put on a show. It turned out not to be so bad.

The Digitrax decoder is only used to drive the two motors, for the cab light and maybe firebox flicker. Just turn on the firebox and leave it on. You could either just leave the cab light on, too, or select between the two decoders - the advantage here is that you don't need a quick wrist to turn on the cab light. If you had to coordinate it with a whistle or something, it would be a different situation all together - and one I probably could never master!

Notes on Programming:

Let's talk about programming your sound.  You will notice I provided how I programmed my CVs when I was done.  You might be tempted to go ahead and program my suggested values.  Hold your ironhorses.

Right out the box, this decoder makes every sound it can, at full volume, and begins as soon as track power is applied.  Your spouse may not believe it, but this good.  I suspect that if this decoder can make even one sound, it can make them all.  Still, you will have a reassuring feeling that everything is working if every sound is being produced.  Every time you put the locomotive on the track it will start talking to you.  This is far better for your peace of mind than, "Oh no, what have I done? :(("

If you program all the CVs up front and make a mistake, you won't know if you did something wrong or the module is bad.   Programming my CVs turns down the volume and makes several of the automatic functions manual.

As soon as you have confidence in your new module, or your spouse threatens you, program CV50 to 04.  This will turn the volume down to an enjoyable level - by you, if not the entire household.  Also program CV42 to 80h - which is 80 on a Digitrax throttle.  It may be 128 on some throttles.  This uses the F8 key to mute the module.  These features should restore domestic harmony.  Reading between the domestic jokes, you should note that their 1 watt amplifier can produce adequate volume with no problem.

You may also want to program CV53 to 01 - wait for address packet.  This means that except for hiss. your locomotive will be silent until you send it a command - like advancing the throttle, before it will do more than hiss.

Just in case you think you really screwed up the programming, read about CV30 in the manuals.  You can reset the decoder to the manufacturer's defaults - including preprogrammed addresses provided for Chief owners.

Do program the addresses you want each decoder to have before you install the two decoders into the locomotive.  If you install them both with their default address of 03, you will not be able to communicate with them independently after installation.  Now is a good time to do this.

HANDLING YOUR LOCOMOTIVE

Before removing Shay, don't lift it out by the smoke stack. It detaches from the smoke box (the boiler if you're not up on your steam locomotive anatomy.)

Before taking your precious Shay apart, get yourself a small zip lock bag to put screws and other small parts in. Also get a penlight flashlight. You will find it most useful in the conversion of this locomotive - almost as essential as a soldering iron!

You will want to remove all the parts I suggest.  This locomotive was designed to support weight in only one direction - upright.  Things can easily get broken off or end up bend if the locomotive is left laying on its side for very long.  You paid too much to let this happen.

Before taking the power trucks apart, read pages 7 and 8 of the manual in the section on Lubrication. It provides details on openning the power trucks and includes photographs

Remove truck access covers. Do not remove trucks yet. Do not remove wheels! You will hate yourself when roller bearings hit floor and vanish right before your eyes! David Copperfield couldn't make anything vanish so astonishly!

Before removing the tender, read the Sound Installation on page 17 of the Bachmann manual..

Remove the tender: Be careful, their is a weight inside that will fall out and find your toes.  Laugh, but it's conceivable it could break them.  Or worse, fall on your Shay and break it.

There is a screw that is towards the rear of the tender. It is difficult to find the screw.  You will have to twist the rear truck to find it.

Their is a little circuit board inside the tender. A small screw holds it to the roof of the tender. Remove it.

There is a small screw on the floor of the tender. It looks like it takes a #0 screw driver (a very small Phillips screwdriver), but I found it takes a #1 (a small Phillips screwdriver) to engage it properly. Remove it. It holds one end of the wire tray mounted underneath the locomotive.

Over the years I've discovered that not everyone is aware that Phillips screwdrivers come in sizes. Look at the handle. #0, #1, and #2 are your common sizes. #3 is also fairly popular. I consider this one of the beauties of a Phillips screwdriver. I wish regular slotted screwdrivers came in sizes. How many times have you asked for a screwdriver then had to say, no, a bigger (or smaller) one. Learn your Phillips screwdrivers, ask for the one you want, and be handed the right screwdriver the first time!

Underneath the left side of the locomotive, you will find a little wiring channel that has a screw on the bottom of the locomotive near the firebox. Remove the screw. The wire channel should be able to be removed.

Use a #1 Phillips to remove the bottom of the firebox. Use a #0 to remove the circuit board from the bottom of the firebox lid.

Remove black wires from L3. They are for the rear headlight. Now completely remove tender and get it out of the way.

Remove black wires from L2. Put a piece of electrical tape around this pair. It will help you remember where they go. They are for the front headlight.

Remove the pair of red wires from L1. Put a piece of electrical tape around this pair. They go to the cab light.

In the corner of the circuit board you will see a group of 6 wires; 4 black and 2 red. My red wires in this group have some white stuff on them so they are easy to tell from red wires removed from L1. If you can easily discern them, just put some electrical tape around them. If they are not easily discerned, do something different when you tape them together. These 2 wires are the smoke generator wires.

The remaining 4 black wires in that group in the corner are CURRENTLY for the power pick up and motors. One of the options you have is that you can use these wires for power pick up.  If you want to keep the flickering firebox circuit provided by Bachmann, leave these 4 black wires alone.

I recommend that you run all new wires. That's because running new wires doesn't use the strips that you would find if you removed the truck. Overtime, this could be a cause of poor contact. If you leave your trucks assembled, I don't expect this really to be much of a problem. But look at it this way, you have to run wires to the trucks to run the motors, running extra wires for power pick up is no effort.

If you intend to use the black wires to the wheels for power pick up, but both keep the Bachmann flickering firebox, you will need to remove the 4 black wires. Remove the 2 nearest the edge of the circuit board. Clip the ends off of them so you will know these came from the left side wheel pick ups. Remove the other 2. These are the right wheel pick ups. Tape all 4 of them together so you will know these are the power pick up group.

To get the wires to the front truck, it is a little bit of a puzzle getting into the boiler. After removing many of the wrong screws, here is how it's done.

Getting into the Boiler:

Lay the Shay on its side. Open the smokebox door. From the underside of the Shay, run up the small Phillips scew driver that came with the Shay past the open smokebox door into the small screw under the head light. (Try to do this without openning the smokebox door!) If you can, remove the screw from under the headlight. I had to use a finger to hold the screwdriver against the screw and use a pair of pliers in front of the open smokebox to start the screw.

With the screw removed, remove the handrailing by pulling it forward. Now remove the sand dome. (The dome nearest the smoke stack.) You will now be able to see the wiring to the front truck. Now close the smokebox door before it gets broken off somehow during the rest of this project.

To Remove Pistons and Valve Gear:

2 screws. One to right of left piston. One between the middle and right piston; just under the reversing mechanism of middle piston.

Loosen the 2 screws inside the firebox. They have rotating collars. Rotate collar until it is aligned with holes in firebox. Piston assembly can now be removed.

Unsolder the 2 wires attached to the sound contacts NOW. In flipping the locomotive one way then the other, the thin metal tabs the wires are soldered to get fatigued. Before I knew this was happening, I broke one of them off. Trust me. It is far easier to remove these wires now and resolder them later, than it is to try to find a way to reattach a broken tab.

Getting into the Firebox:

It's so much work, unless you REALLY want the synchronized flicking firebox that is a feature of the Soundtaxx unit, don't bother! Removing the valve gear is difficult enough. Getting to the firebox is worse. Even then, you aren't really in it. Of course, not knowing how bad it was going to be, I blindly plowed ahead and finally got there.

This is the biggest puzzle of this model's clever assembly.

Pull off the generator(dynamo) so that you don't damage it while the locomotive is upside down. If you can, remove whistle and pop-off valves.  This project will probably take considerable time leaving your locomotive vulnerable.

You may also want to remove the roof. It comes off with 4 screws near the roof itself. Remove the sliding windows while they are loose and to prevent damage.

I recommend you remove the roof and generator.

First remove the valve gear and sound contact wiring. You will need to pull the sound contact wiring out since is passes through the firebox(dark gray) and the locomotive side(black). Therefore, the wiring essentially pins the firebox into the locomotive.

Undo the two brass cotter pins that hold the tensioning rods to the side bottom of the right side of the firebox.

Unhook the tensioning rods from the left side. Be carefull. As you continue disassembly, these tensioning rod can snag the firebox again.

On the left side pry the air compressor off. You must remove it. It is pinning the firebox in much the same way as the sound contact wiring was. You can pop the air compressor loose by pushing on the pin inside the firebox.

One the compressor is off, remove the screw that is behind the piping to the compressor.

On the right side, remove the 3 screws behind the removed valve gear.

Inside the firebox, you will find 4 screws hanging it from the boiler.

Whew!! No doubt about it, Bachmann didn't want this firebox coming off!!! You can now start tugging on the firebox to get it loose. It will now come off. Celebrate!

Since this model can be an interesting puzzle, I thought I'd provide what I learned to get other things apart.

Removing the Cab:

This ranks up there with getting to the firebox except that I never found what benefit could be gained. I removed lots of screws. I never got it off. With no apparent benefit in sight, I put back all the screws before I forgot where everything went.

ELECTRICAL SCHEMATIC

SIMPLIFIED VERSION:

R1, R2, R3 - 270 ohm, 1/2 watt resistors.

FULL FEATURE VERSION:

Click here for a large schematic. Internet Explorer does not always display the graphic properly. Click on the little pin cushion to enlarge the picture. The graphic will then look fine and will print fine.

Track voltage must be high enough forBachmann's flickering firebox to work.  However, if too high, the cab light will shut down.  Remove or cut a lead to the 1.8k ohm resistor labelled R9 on the Bachmann main circuit board.

Even after you have gotten into the firebox, you STILL can't remove the existing firebox lights! No matter, you CAN slide them down enough to add the synchronized flickering lights.

Slide them into a piece of heatshrink and blacken the white leads with a black marker pen or liquid electrical tape. Slide wires into the open firebox door and get the wires to go down between the silvered firebox and circuit board.

82 ohm for flickering firebox.

SPEAKER PREP

4"Speaker - Get speaker to fit before wiring and replacing rear truck. Cut as shown. Bolt speaker down on right side 2 places. To replace wiring cover on bottom of Shay, you will need to drill a hole in the speaker frame.

Use liquid nails to glue in weight. Remove all internal tender features. Don't damage crank gizmo in corner. The tender sides are not straight up and neither are the sides to the lead weight. Make sure weight is right side up before attempting to glue in place. It will not fit upside down.

Since the original tender mounting was removed for the 4" speaker, you will need to drill a hole in the lead weight on the engineer's (right) side.

Drill a hole through the bottom of the locomotive. Drill enough into the lead to leave a mark. Then take the tender off and finishing drilling into the lead as described below.

As I found out the hard way, drilling lead requires a bit of technique. This is because the lead heats up and apparently partially melts as your drill. The shavings come out of the hole were they cool and fuse together seizing tightly around the drill bit causing it to snap.

For starters, don't use a self tapping or sheet metal screw that is any longer than 5/8" (16mm). This will minimize the depth you will have to be drilling.

Drilling lead is easier than some hardwoods. So don't apply much pressure when drilling. Don't let the bit bite into the lead and pull itself in.

If using a variable speed drill, keep it going at a relatively high speed. If the drill sounds like it is binding, speed up, not down. Speeding up keeps it hot. Slowing down allows the lead to cool and the bit to become stuck. Unlike wood, cooling lead will fill in the bit's spiral grasping it tightly.

Keep pulling the bit out and getting the hole clear. Stop if necessary and use a large bit to clear the lead that is accumulating around the hole's openning. If your patient (I'm not), let the lead cool down so that it doesn't get close to the melting point.

Make sure you clean up ALL the lead. This includes the lead particles as well as the lead that has smeared onto surfaces. Clean your hands thoroughly when done. Dispose of lead where children, neighbor's children, and animals cannot get to it. Lead is hazardous to your health.

It will be easier to tap the hole with a screw that has a hex head on it. Then go ahead and use a less obvious rounded head screw.

GENERAL PREP

WIRING UP TRACK POWER AND MOTORS

Note: Bachmann has changed the design of their trucks for the better. These instructions may no longer be useful.

SOUND & SPEAKER HOOKUP

CHUFF SYNC

FULL FEATURED VERSION:

SMOKE

PUTTING THE MODEL BACK TOGETHER

CV SETTINGS YOU MAY WANT TO TRY

WHY SHAYS ARE UNIQUE